2011 Western Regional Meeting

March 26–28, 2011Whittier CollegeWhittier, CA, USA

Conference Theme: Current Religious Thinking

Previous annual meeting themes have taught us what happens when we see our field through spacial and geographic metaphors. This year we invite members to conceive of religion and its study as complex and ongoing flows. Our substantive areas are not cut-and-dried; look closely and they dissolve into each other. And our methodologies, likewise, are not merely contiguous, but constantly interfuse, blend, and add their own cross-currents to others without end. Like Heraclitus's ever-new river, religion is the living water of life.

This year we encourage proposals that celebrate and critique religion’s myriad and ever-changing currents — that trace them to their sources and plumb their mixed and maybe muddied depths. We hope to receive proposals that address questions like “How do religions flow from region to region?,” “How have theology or ritual deepened when new tributaries flow into traditions?,” or “How do we dive into the waves caused when scholarly disciplines clash and trouble the waters of academe?” Similarly, we hope this call opens you to new confluences in your own work. We encourage the outflowing of new studies, where your disciplinary thought streams into new channels or where you invite new disciplinary streams into your ancient streambeds. And, simultaneously, we encourage the inflowing of collaboration, where two or more scholarly streams combine — in panels, book celebrations, symposia, etc. — to nourish the same ground in concourse.

Proposals are due to Section Chairs by September 30, 2010. Our meeting is open to any AAR member from any region or country. In addition to our conference, the Western Region sponsors several competitive awards with prizes for papers from graduate students and independent scholars. We encourage you to submit papers and to plan to attend the conference. For complete information on the Call, themes, and submission guidelines, visit the region’s website at http://regions.aarweb.org/Western/index.php. Note that the full Calls are being uploaded as they arrive from the Section Chairs, so please check in frequently over the next few weeks. Following is a list of Sections offering sessions at our meeting with the Section Chairs’ contact information.

Buddhist Studies SectionKenneth Lee, California State University, Northridge,
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Ecology and Religion SectionSarah Robinson, Claremont Graduate University,
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or
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Education and Workshops SectionBret Lewis, Arizona State University,
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Ethics SectionKelly Fitzsimmons Burton, Arizona State University,
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, and Brandon Crowe, Arizona State University,
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Goddess Studies SectionLaura Truxler, California Institute of Integral Studies,
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, and Annette Williams, California Institute of Integral Studies,
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History of Christianity SectionMarianne Delaporte, Notre Dame de Namur University,
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, and Dyron Daughrity, Pepperdine University,
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Indigenous Religions SectionMutombo Nkulu-N'Sengha, California State University, Northridge,
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Islamic Studies SectionSouad Ali, Arizona State University,
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, and Sophia Pandya, California State University, Long Beach,
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Latino/a and Latin American (U.S.) SectionTheresa Yugar, Claremont Graduate University,
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Nineteenth Century SectionKristy Slominski, University of California, Santa Barbara,
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, and Natalie Fawcett, University of California, Santa Barbara,
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Philosophy of Religion SectionHester Oberman, University of Arizona,
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, and Jason Smick, Santa Clara University,
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Psychology, Culture, and Religion SectionFranz Metcalf, Forge Institute,
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Queer Studies in Religion SectionMarie Cartier, Claremont Graduate University,
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, and Raedorah C. Stewart, Pasadena, CA,
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Religion and Social Sciences SectionSiroj Sorajjakool, Loma Linda University,
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, and Jill Snodgrass, Clinebell Institute,
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Religion and the Arts SectionDirk von der Horst, Claremont Graduate University,
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Religion in America SectionPhilip Boo Riley, Santa Clara University,
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, and Doe Daughtrey, Arizona State University,
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Religion, Literature, and Film SectionJon R. Stone, California State University, Long Beach,
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Religions of Asia SectionJonathan H. X. Lee, San Francisco State University,
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, and Toby B. Johnson, University of California, Riverside,
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Womanist/Pan-African SectionPaula McGee, Claremont Graduate University,
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or
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, and Arisika Razak, California Institute of Integral Studies,
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Women and Religion SectionAnn Wertman, Arizona State University,
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The AAR Western Region meets with the Society of Biblical Literature’s Pacific Coast Region and the American Schools of Oriental Research’s Pacific Coast Region. These three organizations make up the Western Commission for the Study of Religion (WECSOR). For details see www.sjsu.edu/wecsor.

This website contains archived issues of Religious Studies News published online from March 2010 to May 2013, and PDF versions of print editions published from Winter 2001 to October 2009.

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